EFCC arraigns Fani-Kayode, Usman for money laundering

Femi Fani-Kayode

A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, was on Tuesday arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly laundering N4.9 billion.

Fani-Kayode, who served as the Director of Media and Publicity in the campaign organisation of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was arraigned alongside a former Minister of Finance, Nenadi Usman, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Also charged with Fani-Kayode were Danjuma Yusuf and a company – Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the accused persons on a 17-count charge of unlawful retention, unlawful use and unlawful payment of money to the tune of N4.9 billion.

NAN reports that Fani-Kaoyde and others pleaded not guilty to the charges.

After their arraignment, the prosecutor counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, informed the court that he was prepared to proceed with the trial at any date of adjournment.

Meanwhile, counsel to the first and second accused, Mr. Ayo Adedipe (SAN) and Mr. Fred Orbih, told the court that a bail application had been filed on behalf of the defendants.

But counsel to the third accused, Mr. S.I. Ameh, said he had yet to file a bail application.

Responding, Oyedepo, informed the court that he had only been served with the application of the first and second accused, adding that he required time to reply.

Justice Sule Hassan, in a short ruling, adjourned the case to July 1 for hearing of the bail applications.

The judge, however, ordered that the defendants be remanded in prison pending determination of their bail application.

The accused were alleged to have committed the offences between January and March 2015.